Awning construction



Oct. 2, 1951 I R. M. COLE 2,569,599

AWNING CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 7, 1948 INVENTOR. RALPH M. COLE Patented Oct. 2, 1 951 AWNING CONSTRUCTION Ralph M. Cole, Niles, Mich., 'assignor to The Kawneer Company, Niles, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application October "7, 1948, Serial No. 53,367

1 Claim.

This invention relates to metal awnings, and particularly to the general type of awning in which a certain is made up of a multiplicity of narrow sheet metal slats, interlocked to each other by rolled beads, along their opposite edges so that the curtain can be rolled up or extended, as desired.

Awnings of this general type have long been recognized as possessing important advantages in appearance, durability and performance over more conventional types, but certain problems incident to the construction of this type of awning have heretofore remained unsolved in spite of the expenditure of considerable time and money in serious efforts to accomplish their solution. Specifically, it has been a problem to devise a satisfactory means of preventing the individual slats of the awning from creeping or shifting longitudinally with respect to each other. Prior inventors have for years sought to overcome this tendency, which is apparently brought about both by the whipping action of the wind on the awning curtain and by minor misalignments that may be present in the awning hanger, and have proposed various means for mechanically connecting each slat with the slats adjoining it so that relative shifting is impossible. So far as known, all prior efforts have, however, centered around the idea of maintaining the individual slats in position by the provision of some means to prevent them from shifting.

The teaching of this application is a direct departure from this concept, and it is the objective of the present invention to provide means to allow the slats to move longitudinally, yet to return the slats to accurately aligned position before they have become displaced beyond reasonable limits. This is of advantage in that it permits quick and easy replacement of damaged slats, for example, yet maintains the entire curtain in properly aligned position at all times. It is to be understood, of course, that, if desired, the awning constructed in accordance with these teachings may also be provided with additional means to prevent shifting of slats with respect to each other to form a double safeguard against misalignment, although this is a matter of choice and not an essential feature of the invention.

The manner in which the present inventive concept is now employed is illustrated in the drawings of this specification wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an articulated metal awning as contemplated by these teachings; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view of one end of the awning roller.

The awning curtain, generally indicated at I0, is formed of a multiplicity of long, narrow slats I I each interlocked to the adjoining slat by rolled edges I2 in the conventional manner. The awning is ordinarily mounted on an upper roller I3 and extends downwardly and outwardly from this roller to a front bar 14 and, if desired, may include a few downwardly depending slats to form a front edge I5 below the bar.

The individual slats ll may be interlocked to each other by any conventional means, if desired, although by the teachings of this invention it is entirely feasible to utilize slats which are not locked against longitudinal movement with respect to each other but are free to slide longitudinally, so that damaged slats may be replaced with ease or the curtain extended or shortened, as desired. In any case, the teachings of this invention contemplate the provision of a relatively large, generally flat flange at each end of the roller l3. This flange l6 includes an outwardly flared convex cam surface I! extending around the entire periphery of the flange. The flanges [6 are spaced apart from each other a distance just sufficient to clear the opposite ends of the slats ll, so that when the awning is raised the curtain entering between the flanges will be closely engaged and any misaligned slats, as the slats I8 and 19 indicated in Figure 2, will engage the convex cam surface I! of the flange and be shifted thereby into properly aligned positions.

It may be noted that experience with awnings of this general type has shown that while a decided tendency for the slats to misalign themselves exists, the movement is an extremely slow, creeping action under all circumstances and requires a considerable period of time before any of the slats move any considerable distance. Thus the present invention makes use of the fact that awnings of this type are rolled up and unrolled frequently to re-align the slats before they move too far. Thus it is extremely unlikely that any slat would move out of alignment and beyond the cam surface before it is re-aligned by rolling up the curtain.

From the above it will be seen that the teachings of this invention provide a means for maintaining the individual slats in an awning curtain in precise alignment without actually interlocking the individual slats. This not only eliminates the expense involved in providing means to lock each slat to another, but, in addition, allows the entire awning to be rolled into a much more compact roll than in any structure wherein transverse strips or similar auxiliary locking devices for the slats must be employed. It is also notable, however, that if desired, the present teaching may be employed even in awnings wherein the individual slats are interlocked against longitudinal shifting, so that it serves as a safeguard against longitudinal displacement of the slats in the event of mechanical failure of the interlocking device.

Having thus described the invention, what I 3 claim as new and desire to protect by United States LettersRatent is:

In an articulated :metal awning, in combination, an awning curtain comprising a multiplicity of long slender sheet metal slats each having rolled,

edges extending continuously along the opposite sides thereof, with said rolled edges of: theadav joining slats being interengagedin sliding rela. tionship whereby the individualslatsam pivoted to each other along their entire length and are susceptible of relative longitudinal displacement; an awning roller coextensive with the slatsan dhaving a pair of similar and oppositely disposed flanges at the oppositev ends of said roller, the flanges including flat, parallel central portions closely engaging theopposite ends of the awning slats extending between them and preventing relative longitudinal shifting thereof; each ofsaid flanges having a continuous cam surface comprising an outwardly curved peripheral edge REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,694,428 Palmer Dec. 11, 1928 1,842,143 Bowen Jan; 19,1932 1,901,226 Carter, Mar. 1%, 1933 1,9,43,3'71 Cross Jan. 16, 1934 2,204,363 Jenkins et a1. Junell, 19:10 

